Rescued a baby cottontail from my mower this morning. Anyone have any luck feeding a baby rabbit? Eyes are not open.

Thought about putting him back in the nest but grass cover is gone. Not sure mama will be back.

TIA

Baby rabbits eat baby carrots, no?

Milk in a baby bottle or syringe. I did it as a kid. At some point it will probably start trying to bite you, but then just turn it loose.

His best bet is to put him in a nearby location and let momma find him or nature take its course. Sometimes they will die anyway after undergoing that and being exposed (I've had that happen, much to my daughter's frustration). You could also take some grass clippings and put over him for a makeshift nest. They only visit the nest at sunrise and sunset to feed. Otherwise, the little ones are on their own. So, remaking the nest or putting him in a similar position nearby is his best bet.

Not trying to be heartless, but it's a rabbit. There will be PLENTY more to replace him shortly.

Place the rabbit back on the hole. If the ears are flat the stress may end up killing the rabbit. I have had two that survived last year but also a couple that died. If their ears are up they are old enough to take care of themselves

If you insistent on trying to hand feed it and raise it, I've heard that formula is a better option than pasturized cow's milk. But neither will be a replacement for rabbit's milk, and will likely leave them deficient in key nutrients. So, no gurantee you are going to successfully raise it and release a survivable rabbit.

That's why I strongly suggest putting it back and letting mom find it again.

Let your lab play with the bunny. I think they could become friends.

Can say from experience, don't try that if you have a Jack Russell….

If you do try to bottle nurse them I believe they sell baby animal milk at Tractor Supply for cats and dogs.. it's dry formula if I remember… I found 4 kittens in the back of my truck when I went out of town for work, I got the milk from Tractor supply and fed them,3 days till I got back home … some friend of my mom took all 4 of the kittens .. they are 3 years old now and the lady loves them.. she must be a craxy cat women

If you don't want to put it back… get in touch with a local wild animal rehab facility and take it there. They will know what to do.

Put back in hole

Cover with a bit of dead grass.

Found some of the suckers in my over-grown garden one year when weeding. I covered them back up, and put one of my wireless security cameras to see what happened (I knew what would happen). Mom came back that night - I kept on checking on them every day or two (would flip over the dead grass, see them bigger, and flip it back over).

Or, take to a rehabber.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Let your lab play with the bunny. I think they could become friends.

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My lab personally recommends this tactic.

cupofjoe04 said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Let your lab play with the bunny. I think they could become friends.

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My lab personally recommends this tactic.

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one of my weimaraners had a baby bunny massacre party a few months back, much to the horror of my wife. I'm just glad the kids weren't around. One of my daughters is obsessed with bunnies.

Some bunnies used to like to hang out under my old lawnmower, when I didn't have a storage building yet. After a scalped bunny or two and blood everywhere looking like a crime scene, I was lucky my wife didn't see it.

The fox that lives in my backyard enjoyed the bunny carcasses.

May be too late now, but for future reference, put them back in the hole and cover with grass clippings or leaves. Momma will be back.

And I'm soft-hearted, too, but they are prey animals that breed like…..bunnies. Not exactly like saving a baby whooping crane. Losing one or one hundred makes little difference to the environment

You can put some strands of string over the rebuilt nest (or grass clippings). At least you'll know if the momma has come back. We have three that our Great Pyrenees brought up to the patio today. They were still alive and we put them back in the nest with the string. However, I'm sure in the next few days, I'll be fishing them out of the pool, or throwing their dead carcasses over the fence.

Coyote needs to make a living. I don't steal his lunch.

I raised a cottontail once but it was older than yours.
Cottontail rabbits are difficult to successfully raise.

Below is my recollection, but we found the information from a Google search.

You need to get the dog milk powder and mix it with heavy cream. The milk/cream will be extremely thick and you will need to make the opening of the nipple larger. You need to squeeze the cream into its mouth but make sure you do not over feed it. Early on you might also need to massage its anus to get it to poop.

The first few days the rabbit will need to be fed every two hours then every four hours until it eventually gets large enough to eat twice a day. Expect a couple sleepless nights.

Before it can begin eating grasses etc. it needs special enzymes that it gets from eating its mother's poop. We got some rabbit poop from a breeder and mixed it with a batch of the milk. The instructions said that Tractor Supply might have a supplement that includes the enzyme, but we couldn't find it anywhere. Without this enzyme, it cannot digest grass and cannot survive.

Once it gets large enough to eat rabbit food, you can feed it rabbit pellets and alfalfa from the pet store, but it will also need a lot clover and various grasses from your yard/field. Wild rabbits need a wider variety diet than domestic rabbits. It will grow fast. Mine would sit in my lap as we watched TV.

Note, after taking care of the rabbit for several weeks, I tried to take it to two rehab organizations because I was going on a business trip. Nether would take it because I had raised it. They did ask if I would volunteer to help with raising rabbits. Apparently, successfully raising cottontail rabbits is difficult and they like to recruit those who have done it.

Note also that unless things have changed, being in possession of and transporting a cottontail rabbit is not restricted in Texas. By the time I let that little guy go, it had traveled a hundreds of miles through the Brazos Valley and the Houston metropolitan region.

We raised one several years ago by feeding it kitten milk we gig from our vet/neighbor. Fed it with an eye dropper and had to enlarge hold a little with a hot needle. It grew up and became mean as it was a male. Took it out to the country and turned it loose. Never was a pretty really after it grew up. Good luck!

We raise some, and they don't take very long at all to grow up and become mean.